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Thomas tosses Little League no-hitter
By Dick Sparrer
He's big, he's fast and he's left-handed.
All three factors make Derek Thomas a rather imposing figure when he take the mound for a Los Gatos Little League baseball game.
But Thomas wasn't just imposing for the Yankees last Saturday. The 12-year-old southpaw was also impressive.
The 5-foot-9, 150-pounder tossed a no-hitter in the Yanks' 11-0 win over the Marlins in major division play at Baggerly Field last weekend.
Thomas was perfect through four and two-thirds innings, and he ended up striking out 15 and allowing just one baserunner in the lopsided win.
"He's a pretty dominant pitcher," said Los Gatos Little League spokesman Randy Frey.
And Thomas was especially dominant on Saturday. The left hander gave up a fifth-inning walk to Scott Sanders, but was otherwise perfect in the Saturday performance.
The Marlins got their bats on the ball just three times in the game. There was a ground out to third and a comebacker in the first, and there was a pop fly to second in the second inning. Otherwise, Thomas struck out the side in every inning. Thomas also helped his cause at the plate with two doubles and a single.
Bricklin Foley was on base five times and scored three runs for the Yanks. Foley singled twice and walked three times. Riley Catolin supported with a double.
The win for the Yanks came after a Marlins upset over the Yankees earlier in the week.
This time it was Sanders and Nathan Garvey who were dominant. The two combined for a two-hitter to lead the Marlins to a 10-1 win.
Sanders fanned five in three innings of shutout work, and Garvey struck out four in three frames. Each pitcher gave up a single to Zack Wicht, who had both hits for the Yanks.
Colby Moore and Tyler Plane each singled and doubled for the Marlins. Matt McKinley had two hits, and Ben Hintz tripled.
In other action last week, the winless Giants tagged the Cubs with their first loss of the season. A three-run homer by Nick Harris sparked the Giants to a 9-7 win over the Cubbies. Marty Mullins homered in the loss.
The Cubs rebounded with an 11-5 win over the Giants on Saturday. Timmy Sweeney ripped two doubles, including a two-run double in the first, and Mullins and Wesley Howell had two hits apiece to lead the Cubs to the win.
Trevor Campbell had three hits for the Giants and A.J. Comeau added two hits.
The Padres won two of three games last week, beating the Giants before splitting with the Indians.
Jason Stein was the winning pitcher, and he also singled and doubled to lead the Padres to the 8-6 win over the Giants. Chip Dreesman pounded a three-run homer in the second, David Pavicich singled and doubled, Sam Dickinson had two hits, and Eric McDonald tripled.
Ryan Black doubled in the loss for the Giants.
Stein picked up another pitching win in relief and had two more hits for the Padres in an 11-7 win over the Indians on Saturday. Pavicich and Brett Krouskup each singled and doubled, and Chad Manning and Mike Shawhan each doubled for the Pads in the win.
Matt Perrone and Jeremy Cleveland each singled and doubled for the Indians, and Michael Dundurs tripled.
It was the Indians pulling out a 14-1 win over the Padres earlier in the week in a battle of two undeated teams. Perrone struck out six in three innings, and Danny Brassfield fanned five in three frames.
David Martini had three hits to drive in three runs, and Chris Keesling singled and doubled and scored three runs for the Indians. Zack Sylvester singled and doubled, and Noah Henry had two hits.
Dreesmann doubled for the Padres.
The Rangers went seven innings to pull out a 5-3 victory over the Pirates. Garrett Blackwell's single to open the seventh sparked a two-run rally to lift the Rangers to the extra-inning win.
The Rangers jumped in front 2-0 in the first. Jake Walker tripled home a run before Navneet Hakhu walked. The Pirates threw through to shoot down Hakhu attempting to steal, but Walker scored on the play to give the Rangers the 2-0 lead.
Hakhu tossed six strong innings for the Rangers, striking out 11, but he left with the score knotted at 2-2 heading into extra innings. The Rangers won it in the seventh, though.
Justin Schafer and Mitchell Benedetti had two hits apiece for the Pirates, and Dylan Burke doubled.
Steven Genetti allowed just one hit over the first three innings for the Bucs, and Burke fanned six over three one-hit innings.
Raymond Salazar had the only other hit for the Rangers.
Danny Sullivan tossed the A's to a 3-1 win over the Cardinals last week. Sullivan went the distance to flip a two-hitter, striking out nine.
Steve Stege doubled and scored on a run-scoring single by Kyle Blair in the third inning, and Brandon Barnett singled and scored on a double by Sullivan in the fourth.
Woody Wilkerson tossed three strong innings for the Cards, and Rusty Wall and Michael Picone each singled.
Los Gatos Little League major division standings (as of April 8): Cubs 4-1, Indians 4-1, Padres 4-1, A's 2-2, Pirates 2-2, Rangers 2-2, Yankees 2-3, Cardinals 1-3, Giants 1-4, Marlins 1-4.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
